Anthony Albanese signs Australia up for G7-backed ‘climate club’
Anthony Albanese enrolls Australia in G7-backed ‘climate club’ and vows to cut greenhouse gas emissions
Australia is joining the ‘climate club’ backed by the Group of Seven Major Economies to take more action on global warming, Anthony Albanese has announced.
“We are very happy to join the climate club because we are ambitious and we also see that this is not only the right thing to do for the environment, but it is also the right thing to do for jobs and for our economy. Albanese said at a press conference in Berlin after meeting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who made the idea a major pillar of his G7 presidency last year.
‘We can work together and learn from each other, because climate change cannot be tackled as a national problem alone. By definition, it must be a global response,” Albanese said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
The ‘climate club’ was founded last year – led by Nobel laureate William Nordhaus – to get countries to voluntarily set tough targets to curb climate change.
Other countries that are part of the club include; Argentina, Chile, Denmark, Indonesia, Colombia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore and Uruguay.
It’s an initiative that has been opposed by emerging economies like China – the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases.
In 2022, the Australian government has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent by the end of the decade.
That was almost double the previous target as the country continues to work towards net-zero emissions by 2050.
In 2022, the Australian government has committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent by the end of the decade (Photo: Liddell Power Station in Hunter Valley)
In March, a law was passed by parliament requiring the country’s biggest polluters to reduce their emissions or pay for carbon credits.
The law regulates emissions from Australia’s 215 biggest polluters.
“I am delighted that Australia has announced its membership of the Climate Club,” Scholz said at a media conference in Berlin.
‘We also want to expand our existing energy partnership and develop it into a climate partnership to combat climate change even more effectively.’
Anthony Albanese will travel to Lithuania later today for the NATO summit following the announcement that Australia will join the Climate Club.